United Liquors is a Massachusetts-based distributor of beverage alcohol representing the industry's leading spirits brands and a diverse wine portfolio through four unique selling divisions: Century, Connoisseur, United and Excel. Within United Liquors, Genesis Brands is a unique grouping of quality spirits.

Carolina Wine & Spirits is a well-trained team of experienced sales professionals specialized in brand development and sales consultation for the most comprehensive and diverse portfolio in Massachusetts of premium and fine wines, as well as artisanal spirits.

Classic Wine Imports is a highly-educated, consultative fine wine sales team specializing in unique and independent wine producers from emerging and established regions throughout the world.

Commonwealth Wine & Spirits is a specialized team focused exclusively on the long-term development of E&J Gallo’s international wine portfolio in the off-premise, with a dedicated on-premise team for high-volume restaurant and hotel accounts

Classic Imports has the expertise, professionalism, and passion to represent and grow the finest spirits in terms of quality and craft through its network of distributors nationwide. For an overview of Classic Imports Spirits, click here, and for a list of SKU's, click here.

Martignetti Companies of NH is a New Hampshire-based distributor, representing some of the largest, most prestigious and respected wines and spirit vendors to the state.

The Mancini Companies/Rhode Island Distributing is an industry leader for the sales and distribution of spirits, wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages for Rhode Island.

Wine of the World

Regional Website

Overview

A strong argument could be made that the Champagne region has done the best job of branding their wines of any major wine region in the world. Champagne on the label is as close as we get to a guarantee of at least good quality in the bottle. The unique cool climate and chalky soil are very important to the character of Champagne. The primary Champagne grapes are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

All vineyards in Champagne are rated according to a system know as ‘Echelle des Crus.’

This rates the vineyard on a percentage basis between 80-100%. 90-99% inclusive are considered to be Premier Cru and those at 100% are Grand Cru. Historically, the 100% price would be set, with grapes coming from an 85% rated vineyard receiving that percentage of the amount agreed upon for the Grand Cru.

Champagne must come from the region of Champagne, France to be entitled to the Appellation, and the secondary fermentation must take place in the bottle, (not a vat).

Champagne is a process (methode champenoise) as well as a beverage.

The three major regions in France are the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, and the Côte de Blanc. The Côte des Bar is an isolated and lesser known region 60 miles southeast of Epernay in the Aube.

Major Regions

Major Varietals

Major Varietals

Major Varietals

Major Varietals

Additional Information

Champagne Process

1.The grapes are pressed gently and quickly to keep any color out of the wine.

2.The wine undergoes a normal white wine fermentation.

3.It is then blended. It is said that the art of Champagne is the art of blending, as wines from different districts of Champagne and often different vintages (as many as 50 to 200 different commune wines are often used by major firms) are blended to form a unique cuvée.

4.It is then bottled with sugar and yeast (liqueur de triage) and tightly capped.

5.The secondary fermentation that then takes place produces the bubbles (prise de mousse means ‘capture the sparkle’).

6.The wine is aged in the bottle.

7.The rémuage, or riddling process begins. This process takes an average of eight weeks by hand, or eight days by machine. It is only in the méthode champenoise that the yeast deposit remaining from the final fermentation is encouraged down the neck of the inverted bottle.

8.The neck of the inverted bottle is then plunged into a freezing brine solution that causes an ice plug to form in the neck.

9.The cap is removed and the yeast is expelled in that frozen plug of ice during the degorgement, removing the sediment from the bottle.

10. The lost wine is replaced with the dosage (‘liqueur d’expedition’ in French), which will determine the sweetness of the finished Champagne.

11. A cork and label are added. The process is now finished.

Champagne Styles:

Non Vintage – a champagne house’s standard bottling made the house style, which is maintained by blending several vintages. Must be aged for a minimum of fifteen months, twelve of which must be on the lees.

Vintage – from a single year’s harvest, produced in only the best years and must be aged on the lees in bottle for a minimum of three years

Prestige Cuvée/Tête de Cuvée/Cuvée Spéciale – the top of the line product produced by a given Champagne House, typically includes some Premier or Grand Cru fruit

Blanc de blancs – made from 100% Chardonnay.

Blanc de noirs – made from only red grapes, mainly Pinot Noir, sometime with Pinot Meunier

Rosé – pink or salmon in color, made from either red grapes entirely or a blend of red and white. Typically a separate red wine is made and blended with blanc Champagne until the desired color and flavor is achieved.